THE discovery of hazardous levels of E.coli at Gr猫ve de Lecq has prompted calls for water-quality testing to be conducted in Island bays all year round.
And the suspected cause of the issue has been revealed by the Infrastructure Department, which discovered a 鈥減artial blockage鈥 in a sewer which feeds into one of the nearby pumping stations.
Henry Swithinbank, policy and advocacy manager鈥嬧嬧嬧 for the Surfers Against Sewage campaign group, has called on the government to test more often to help 鈥渆nsure it doesn鈥檛 happen again鈥.
A reading of 3,300 parts E.coli per 100ml of water was recorded in a sample of sea water at Gr猫ve de Lecq at the start of last week.
Official warnings were issued for Islanders to avoid swimming in the area, while anyone who had done so 鈥 and felt unwell or had health concerns 鈥 were urged to speak to their doctor.
A lower reading of 1,800 was documented later in the week and, as of yesterday, the figure had dropped below 800 鈥 but this means the water quality was still over the threshold figure of 500 for a 鈥減oor鈥 classification.
Mr Swithinbank said that his UK-wide marine conservation group had taken notice, and pointed out that the government鈥檚 current testing regime takes place between May and September each year.
He continued: 鈥淭he testing should be done year-round, and more frequently as well. Say they hadn鈥檛 tested on that particular day 鈥 they might not have found those levels.鈥
He stressed that the government needed to be clear about where the pollution came from 鈥渢o ensure it doesn鈥檛 happen again鈥.
鈥淭hose kind of levels would pose a risk to human health,鈥 he added, noting that the Island鈥檚 beaches were getting busier as summer approached.
During yesterday鈥檚 sitting of the States Assembly, Environment Minister Steve Luce said that the government did test 鈥渞egularly鈥 but also that he would 鈥渃ertainly consider鈥 the possibility of doing so all-year-round.
Infrastructure Minister Andy Jehan said his team had now identified what they believed to have been causing the poor seawater quality and had taken steps to stop any further 鈥渄ischarges鈥 into the bay.
He explained: 鈥淚t appears there was a partial blockage on the incoming sewer to one of the pumping stations, causing some sewage to overtop the foul sewer and enter the surface water system, which normally carries just the surface water out to sea.
鈥淚鈥檇 like to thank the team who quickly isolated the station and found the exact location of the problem, to stop further leakage into the environment.鈥
